::because music sets everything right::

went to watch 'chicago' the musical a few hours ago at the opera house.

and it was FANTASTIC!!!
the dancers, voices, orchestra, plot, cute dialogues... thumbs up :)
worth the tenpoundfifty we paid yays~

now i can't wait for les miserables and mamma mia v(^^)
...and SHOCK as well.

sigh.

--- 02:02 ---

::of kilts and bagpipes::

edinburgh was really pretty.
worth the twelve hours on the coach there and back.
scenery along the way was breathtaking too;
mountains; sheep and cows grazing in the scottish countryside...
too bad the photos i attempted to take from the coach came out blurred :(

aerial view of the city;
and notice the cobblestoned streets are sloped downwards, instead of the level types back home~

scotland's no. 10 downing street with georgian architecture;
all three floors of the building are built with different types of bricks in different fashion.
fort bridge; two bridges built with different technologies...
and fetes college; in an academic society known as scotland, it is one of its most famous colleges

edinburgh castle; view from the streets in the first picture...
pretty aye?

scotland's known for its ghosts apparently.
went for a cemetery walk in pitch black with rumoured poltergeists wandering around;
explored the real eight floored underground city that existed in the 1500s to 1700s;
and the city has two levels apparently.
you could be walking along the street and then suddenly you come to a bridge, look down and there's another street far below with people walking on it o.O

went past the cafe j.k.rowling sat to write her infamous harry potter novels..
took a picture with a guy in full scottish wear i.e. kilts..
and another in full attire playing the bagpipes!!
cool wor...

i really like the city :)
was the best trip so far... and next week's reading week = one week break = more travelling =X

stay tuned!!~

--- 01:03 ---

::time machine::

hmm.. time is flying past!
seems like i just got back from london yesterday
and just realised i'm leaving for scotland tomorrow...

so... been here more than a month already..
and funnily, i'm at a loss of ideas of what to buy back for my family and friends in singapore.
talking about souvenirs..
most of them are not really useful and special;
clothes- out of the point when its yours truly buying them and the stocks here are mostly winter wear;
accessories- the best solution but i really dunno what my friends' tastes are...

i need help people!!
if you want me to get you something, just nudge me on msn or something...
or i may just consider putting up a tagboard after ling complained she can't give her comments haha~
it would make my life much easier thankew <3

right now,
i'm still trying very hard not to think about that pack of 30 kitkats i saw on sale at 1.99 pounds :(

on a sidenote:
gakkou autumn SP was awesome :)
kudos to the team who came up with that idea;
just ask if you want uploads
but no subtitles though =X

--- 22:20 ---

::london bridge is falling down...::

one of a kind trip it was (to me at least)-
so here goes the chronicle::

left friday night to get to the airport to pick up our rented car with the super useful navigator, and headed to bath, a town near london famous for its ancient roman hot springs.
intended it to be at least a six hour drive or so, but we ended up at bath at twelve thirty am, with no place to put up for the night;
after passing through a REALLY freaky road
which was so foggy we couldn't see anything at the back and on both sides of the car as we moved along =X
turned out to be along the sides of a mountain o.O

so we ended up exploring the bath university campus (which was really nice btw) in the freezing weather (as usual, yours truly didn't bring enough warmwear)-
and the others ended up sleeping about two hours in the lobby of the school library.
ended up driving to a spot on a really scenic bridge, supposed to be bath's famous one and slept there till the next morning.
(robert was still very amazed at the fact that we spent a night in the car haha! things to do before you die eh?)


the roman baths; the bulk of it preserved from 2000 years ago.

next on the itenary:
stonehenge-
one of the seven (or eight?) wonders of the world.
drove along the scenic countryside and the wonder turned out...
less impressive than i thought oops.
but well, it was those kind that you would want to spend a few moments of silence just taking the sight in.



left at about three in the afternoon for london...
and spent a long time getting to our hotel (with the original hotel giving very vague directions to the hotel they reallocated us to =X)
anyway, we got a better deal in the end.. so no complaints.
dinner at this restaurant mawar which is famous for its malaysian food before crashing in for the night.
according to mars, yours truly went out cold while waiting for her to shower and couldn't be awakened until about forty five minutes later oooooops =X
didn't sleep much on the car ma~~~

london is a horror to drive around in though.
millions of traffic lights, and to quote ky, each traffic light only allows three cars to pass before turning red again, resulting in a massive traffic jam..
lots of confusing small roads, which are far too narrow;
zero space for parking;
and lastly truckloads of roads with similar names.

managed to walk around abit before lunch of singaporean food (laksa :D)
but spent an more than hour navigating through the streets to pick ky's friend, zhifeng up.
ended up at the wrong place initially hmm.

darted into harrods for krispy kreme doughnuts, which mars treated as her treasures, after denting another car on the way there due to the alarming number of one way and narrow streets =X


the chelsea stadium; right in the middle of city-
london eye; abit like the one at odaiba-
tower bridge; often mistaken for london bridge apparently...

had a rushed tour since we were running late-
the car was due to be returned by nine pm, and manchester is a three plus hour ride away from london.

well, slightly late, but got back in one piece;
kinda fun two days spent though, although ky should have gotten sick of driving for the moment haha.
will be back to london soon though;
didn't catch travada and tralfagar squares, westminister's abbey, oxford (shopping) street and one important highlight;
performance of les miserables in their last year!!

next weekend:: edinburgh!!

--- 17:50 ---

::the liver bird.::

long overdue post-
liverpool on october 7th =X
shall make it a short one; in view of the long one about to come in london :)


liverpool world museum-
check it out.. the mummy in the last picture is real...


chinatown; which was like no mans land;
and view from albert docks.
the green creature at the tip the two buildings is the liver bird;
which brought about the name liverpool, apparently

the beatles museum was there too;
but me and stella ended up not going in...
six pounds for entry though =X

stopped by the liverpool football club merchandise store as well...
... and that's it, really.
much cleaner and quieter than manchester, definitely.

--- 04:25 ---

::teetering.::

unpleasant thoughts.
every new experience is a two-edged sword, just like making choices.
barrage of stuff to settle isn't exactly helping either.

here we go again...

on an upside,
liverpool last week;
london/stonehenge/bath this weekend;
plus many more to come.
(with a camera prone to permanent mood swings)

=X

--- 06:06 ---

::claustrophobic::

一日遅いでごめんなさい　><

３４歳誕生日おめでとう、長野博さん！
いつも元気で生きて来て、みんなの頼り人にいたままでＶ６の活力をもっとあがりましょ！

sometimes, it doesn't take a genius to realise the obvious.
no use regretting things that have already happened no?

--- 02:59 ---

::warmth from within::

sweet taste of independence :)

--- 02:30 ---

::21st in manchester...::

went to watch mary barton on monday night with mars and zx-
a play depicting life in 1840s manchester; how events impacted the protagonist's life

was really good experience for four pounds.
the theatre was circular shaped with the seats surrounding a circular patch on the ground, where the entire play was performed.
didn't help that we got good seats! the edge of the "stage" was only about two metres away from where we sat :)
the acting was good! from where we sat, we could see the different facial expressions clearly-
plus the dressing and some olden english and their accents...
made a really refreshing experience~

and thanks to the people that knocked my door at midnight with 12 muffins spelling HAPPY 21st BDAY and two pink candles :)
got my bath towel and liquer chocolates too :):)
made me eat all the cheese on it though =X

walked around alone yesterday again~
nice feeling;
although i was caught in the rain and my leather converses were soaked through.
as a result had to come back early coz my toes were freezing =X
so that was how i spent my 21st in manchester!!
nothing THAT special lahhhhhh...

--- 19:37 ---

::21.::

そろそろ、２１歳になりました～

今年の誕生日をマンチェスターに祝いのは珍しい経験だった。　
でも、大人としてはこのチャンスをもらって、ほんとうに親と家族に感謝してました。　
しかも、昨夜ちょうど１２時、マンチェスターにいるシンガポールの友だちも祝ってもらって、めちゃ幸せな感じでした。
更に、すばらしいパワーポイントプレーセンテショーンをもらって、シンガポールを寂しく思うになってた。。。
でも、ありがとうございます、ホンマに～

２１として、世界に確認の大人です。
去年の求めはまだ半分できないけど、その年はいい年だった。
もちろん辛いものとか、失望ときとかもあったけど、幸せと喜ぶときもいっぱいあったし、今理想の生活が生きてきたことを認めて、それは一番大切なの。
勇気や自立とかがあったほうがいいとか話を話して欲しいけど、そのより大切ものがあった、実は。

今後、大人の人生に始まって、やりたいこととやるべきことがちゃんと楽しくやってばいいと思います。

シンガポールからみんなのお祝いメッセージにありがとうございます　<3
すぐに帰える、約束よ～

--- 20:44 ---

::chester; ancient walled city::

day tour on saturday to chester; an ancient walled city with a history dating back two millenia, most of it under roman rule.

the remnants of once a huge amphitheatre where gladiators used to fight

city views from the walls that surround it.
the clocktower's supposed to be some city monument~

the path lined with flowers are actually tombstones with inscriptions on them (!!)

chester castle;
which was a little unnerving with all those narrow tunnels and passageways big enough for only one person at a time.
took a REALLY spooky photo too =X

fulfilling timsum lunch and fried rice for dinner today~
feels like home suddenly :)

--- 05:12 ---